I'm looking to get a top of the line ethernet cable

[Virtex]

My budget will max around 100 dollars if needed, all I need is a ethernet cable to plug into my pc straight from my WiFi hub. What's the best I can get?

[mariushm]

Any plain cat6 or cat6a cable... you don't need anything fancier.

 

These are good for up to 10gbps, cat6 is limited to around 55 meters at 10gbps or 100 meters at 5gbps or less. Cat6a goes the whole 100 meters.

 

If possible, try to avoid the cables that use CCA (copper coated aluminum) and get full copper cable which should be a bit more expensive.  But CCA cables work fine for short lengths (like 10-15 meters), you wouldn't notice any difference.

 

Depending on length, shouldn't cost more than $10-20.

 

 

[Blue4130]

8 minutes ago, JDMboi said:

My budget will max around 100 dollars if needed, all I need is a ethernet cable to plug into my pc straight from my WiFi hub. What's the best I can get?

Why do you think you need the best? Ethernet cable doesn't work like that. Just get anything that is certified and 100% copper. How long of a cable do you need?

[Motifator]

When it comes to audio cables, there ought to be some differences... like XLR cables, especially regarding long runs for 10 years straight.

Ethernet? Just buy whatever is white and available.

[jaslion]

Just get the cheapest. Literally does not matter a single bit at all. Its just copper and digital data transfer.

 

Don't fall for marketing. Digital data basically does not give a shit at all about cable quality.

 

For analog like vga, audio,... there it matters a bit usually when you start doing long runs. But ethernet is digital.so it doesnt matter.

 

Just get a generic cable of the length you need. The only thing I recommend you avoid are flat or extra thin cable simply because they are more fragile. Just a generic normal cat6 cable is what you need.

[mariushm]

Yes, it's digital, and the most common protocol TCP/IP has error correction and retransmission so even if some error occurs, the data packets are retransmitted. 

 

more detail about CCA cables 

 

With very long CCA cables (copper coated aluminum wires), like... let's say over 40-50 meters, SOME network cards had a higher than normal amount of transmission errors with the GREEN / Power saving features enabled.  This is because the CCA wires have slightly higher resistance compared to full copper wires, and the algorithms that determine the length of the ethernet cable and adjust transmission power to save a few mW of power can get confused and reduce the transmission power a bit too much and you get a few more errors at the other end.  Disabling the power saving features / green modes of the network cards solve this issue. 

 

Basically, doesn't matter during regular browsing because TCP/IP protocol is used for that  and has error correction and retransmission, but for some other uses, like for example applications that use UDP (some video conferencing, telephony, some multiplayer games), it's possible to get the random corrupted packet once in a while which would translate to a green block of pixels on the video conference video, or a glitch in the audio, or your character lagging a few ms on the screen. 

 

But again... I'm talking about very long lengths of cable.. for 3-5-10 meters of cable, plain CCA cable will work just as well as a solid core / full copper cable. 

 

A more expensive cable won't make transfers faster (you're limited by the network card, the router, connection between your router/modem and the isp) and won't decrease latency.  At 1 gbps, a cat5e cable will give you same performance as a cat6 or cat6a cable and cat7 or higher cables out there are either false advertising, or just pointless waste of money.

 

There could be a cat7 cable out there with thicker wires inside and which could theoretically support even 25 gbps but if your router/modem/network card is 1 gbps or 2.5 gbps, you'll still only achieve those speeds. 

 

 

 

[Doobeedoo]

I got S/FTP Cat6a lately, it's pretty much up there more then you'll need. Has extra shielding even if there's near EMI by it. Was pretty much cheap as more general ones.